Nearly two-thirds of all workers in Maine regularly use a computer on the job. That is one of the findings of a study of the Maine work force undertaken by the state Department of Economic and Community Development and a public-policy professor at the University of Southern Maine.

But while geographic usage varies by roughly 10 to 15 percentage points on average between southern regions and northern areas, the differences are not as pronounced as might be expected, according to Charles Colgan, a professor in the Muskie School of Public Service at USM.

According to his research, while 75 percent of workers in the Portland region and 70 percent in Augusta area use computers regularly on the job, in the Bangor area and York County about 68 percent do so.

Rural areas are not that far behind. The rate in northern Aroostook County is about 58 percent, and in Somerset County it’s roughly 55 percent.

“There are differences, but the differences are smaller than people expect them to be,” Colgan said.

The study provides a backdrop to the debate over Gov. Angus King’s proposal to provide every middle school and high school student with a portable, Internet-capable, computing device. A legislatively appointed task force is hammering out revisions to King’s original idea.

The two-year study, known as the Maine Workforce Profile Project, is due to be completed by next summer. The purpose is to catalog the characteristics of the state’s work force to aid in economic development efforts.

According to Colgan, the fact that 65 percent of Maine workers use computers regularly is evidence of “the fastest diffusion of technology” in Maine history.

Computers have spread faster than telephones, electricity and railroads, he said.

According to his analysis of the data so far, computer use exactly follows the age profile of the work force.

The largest segment of the work force is 45- to 54-year-olds and they are the highest percentage of computer users, with two-thirds using computers at work. In contrast, just under 60 percent of 25- to 34-year-olds use a computer at work.

“Age is not a determinant of computer usage [at work],” Colgan said.

That runs counter to the notion that computers are the domain of the young.

But computer use at work does play a role in determining household income.

A person with a household income between $30,000 and $60,000 is more than twice as likely regularly to use a computer at work than those earning less than $30,000 a year.

Colgan’s work has also found that employers say it is harder to find people with good communication, analytical or writing skills than to find those with computer skills.

The explanation, according to Colgan, is that people are being taught at work to use computers.

“We learn how to use computers at work, in computer training programs, formal and informal settings, besides in school,” he said.

Given Gov. King’s proposal to provide students with portable computing devices and the fact that “computers are so integrated into what we do, we need to think more broadly about computer education than just a few courses in K-12,” Colgan said. A broad approach that looks at the workplace as well as schools is better than a narrow one focused exclusively on schools.

That is not to discount the importance of computer education in schools.

“What my research reveals is that the laptop idea is moving things in the right direction,” Colgan said. “I was skeptical until I saw my own data.”

He added that if a state can make a commitment to developing a “computer-literate and computer-comfortable” population, it would give it a competitive advantage over other states.